This work was created by Bassmaa Alketeefan, a Syrian refugee living in Germany, during a workshop with artist Heidi Drahota.
The arpillera overflows with the horrors faced by the Syrian people surrounding the central image of an empty bloody red chair. Cities are engulfed in flames, a prison cell of people with evidence of torture and two veiled women holding close their children among burning ruins. This is the cruel regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
Doves, a widely recognised symbol of peace, flutter here through tumultuous winds, above an overfilled boat of people seeking refuge. However, these doves are unable to find a place to rest, much like the refugees themselves. According to the UNCHR ‘More than 6.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes since 2011 and another 6.7 million people remain displaced inside the country.’ In the 21st century Germany has taken in more displaced persons than any other European nation (UNHCR), half of whom have fled Syria.
Syria has been in a state of crisis since the eruption of civil war in 2011, the roots lie 40 years earlier with Hafez Al-Assad, father of current dictator Bashar Al-Assad, who seized power in a 1970 coup d’etat.
While regime forces are not the sole perpetrators of violence in this conflict, Bassmaa and many others attribute the blame to Bashar Al-Assad. He has followed his father in ruling Syria with an iron fist policy, resulting in the powder keg which blew up in 2011, when a group of teenage boys were imprisoned and tortured for anti-regime graffiti. In the context of the Arab Spring across the Arab world, this event sparked protests that were harshly suppressed and ultimately escalated into a full-blown civil war between the Assad regime's military forces and various rebel groups.
In 2024, Syria’s government is slowly regaining international ties despite continuing disappearances, displacement and disturbing reports from detention centres. There does not appear to be any sign of a resolution that addresses the needs of those affected by the conflict, and the 2023 earthquakes in Northern Syria have only exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis. This compelling portrait of Syrian life in the past decade serves as a poignant reminder of the human cost of dictatorship and civil war.
Updated by Helen Maguire 27 th March 2024 | 
